Extension of the INA, Institut national de l’audiovisuel –Bry sur Marne

The extension of the INA building was designed as a crystalline factory, whose purpose is to gather dispersed technical activities in a rational and transparent place. Designed as a facility open onto public space, it is capable of transforming the extent of the audio-visual world. The project is organized around a U shaped plan which connects the two wings of the existing building. Circulation is oriented inwards onto a courtyard and punctuated by four patios. These patios provide breathing visual links between services and floors while creating microclimates which ensure the visual, thermal and acoustic comfort dominating the processing of sound and image. At the urban scale, these patios create moments of transparency between the road and the courtyard. Exterior terraces promote appropriations of space, the daily rituals of work and navigate the relations of building to general landscape. The flexibility of the building is based on a minimalized structure: far spanning prefabricated floors and a regular column structure supporting a glazed facade exposing the daily activities of the INA. The large plaza, situated at the corner of the site, forms a new public space which reflects the aim of the project to become an urban ‘piece’, a participant in the new urbanity of the district.